Combined order-book



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v (No Model.) c J. W. HILL.

COMBINED ORDER BOOK; FILE, AND COUPON SYSTEM. No. 473,875. Y Patented Apr. 26, 1892.A

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES WV. HILL, OF ST. LOUIS-MISSOURI.

COMBINED ORDER-BOOK, FILE, AND COUPON SYSTEM..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,87 5, dated April 26, 1892. Application filed March 16, 1891. Serial No. 385,171. (No specimens.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES W. HILL, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in a Combined Order-Book, File, and Coupon System, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication.

This invention relates to a combination device for a readyorder bill-of-parcels book with stub-register7 coupons for the discharge payments of said orders, and tile for the asn sorted retention of the used coupons; and the invention consists in features of novelty` hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure I isa front view of the coupon-book. Fig. II is a back view of the same. Fig. III is an inside View of the same,and shows the book opened at the first sheets, with the daily record on the fly-leaf of the,` amount of coupons used in payment of daily orders. Fig. IV is an open View of the order-book, and shows the coupon-record of orders and stubregistry of the same. Fig. V is a front view of a detached order-slip. Fig. VI is a detail elevation of the tile, and shows the used returned coupons on their respective files; and Fig. VII is a perspective View of a package of coupons after removal from the file and secured together by a rubber band, ready for packing away for future reference, if need be.

Referring to the drawings,l represents the coupon-book, on whose front cover 2 are recorded the aggregate amount or value 3 of the coupons 4 contained in said book,the individual number 5 of the book, and the name 6 of the customer to whom said book has been sold or by whom it is held, the merchant preferably keeping a registry of the number 0f the book indexed to the customers name 6 who has purchased said book. The back cover 7 of said coupon-book has onit a record of the name Sof the firm that issues said book, and a linear space 9 for the name 6 of the customer or holder that has purchased it, and at the foot is the warning notice 10 that the coupons are not good if detached.

1l represents the iiy-leaf of the coupon-book, which has a two-column (more or less) record 12 of the days of one or more consecutive months, with a linear record of the aggregate of the order 13 of the current day, and the consequent amount in coupons 4 that have been extracted from said coupon-book.

There may be four (more or less) of the coupons 4 on each leaf 14 of the coupon-book 1, the denominations being preferably of one denomination on each sheet, and a perforate intersecting-line l5 runs between each coupon and between the coupons and stub of the book to facilitate their detachment. The cou pons may be of various amounts, such as iive, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, forty, fifty cents, and one dollar, or other convenient denominations, so as to be able to aggregate any required amount in coupons correspond? ing to theamount of the individual order, and to detach the same in payment thereof. Thus, for instance, to make a convenient aggregate of twenty dollars the coupon-book may contain one sheet containing four onedollar coupons, aggregating four dollars; one sheet containing four fifty-cent coupons, aggregating two dollars; one sheet containing four forty-cent coupons, aggregating one dollar and sixty cents; one sheet containing four thirty-cent coupons, aggregating one dollar and twenty cents four sheets containing sixteen twentyiive -cent coupons, aggregating four dollars; two sheets containing eight twenty-cent coupons, aggregating one. dollar and sixty cents; two sheets containing eight fifteen-cent coupons, aggregating one dollar and twenty cents; six sheets containing twenty-four ten-cent coupons, aggregating two dollars and forty cents; ten sheets containing forty tive-cent coupons, aggregating two dollars, making the aggregate of coupon-book twenty dollars; but the aggregate value of the couponbooks andof the denominations in said books may be either increased or diminished to suit the exigencies of the trade. Thus, for the use of hotels and large establishments the aggregate value of the coupon-books may be largely increased and the denominations of the coupons and the number of said coupons varied to suit, and also for the use of small establishments, on the oher hand, the said coupon-books and denomination of their coupons may be decreased in value to accord with the requirements of the holder or" the book.

16 represents the denomination of the cou- IOO ` order-book;

pon, which is plainly printed on the face of said coupon.

5, which represen ts the number of the book and of the coupons contained therein, is not only printed or Written, as previously stated, on the front cover of the book, but is also alike marked on the face of each coupon that the book contains, on the bill of parcels of the order-book, yet to be described, and Aon the register-stub of said order-book.

17 represents the order-book, which may be used by the order-clerk at his counter-stand, or, as is the custom in large cities, where the order-clerks of grocers, butchers, and some other classes of retailers make week] y or daily visits to the houses of their established cus tomers fororders. In either case the said orderlbook is used for entering a bill-of-parcel record 18, with the name of the' customer 6, and the' registered numberof his coupon-book on thebill-'slip 19. i

20 represents lines of perforations'that intersect between the bill-slipsfor separating the individual records of the bill of parcels. It is evident that when there is a long bill to make out, two or even three of said individual slips may be utilized in transcribing said bill, in which case said perforate line should be-left intact, not being separated; but generally the vspace on one individual slip will be found ample for the transcription of the order.

21 represents a line of p'erforations between said bill-slips and the stubs 22 of said It will thus be seen that the perforatio'ns between the in'divid ual bill-slips and between said slips and the stubs facilitate the separation of said bill-slips from the book, so that said billof parcels may accompany the filled order on its delivery' and becompared by the customer with the articles received, after which the totals on said bill-slips should be recorded on line with its date on the registry 12 on the fly-leaf 11, and said bill-slips should then -be filed away by careful housekeepers for ultimate comparison with the record when the coupon-book is exhausted.

The stubs 22, that are retained boundy in the order-book after the severance of the billslips, are utilized for a record opposite the yrecord onv the bill-slip before its severance of the date 23 of the order, preferably for conciseness, written in numerals, the number 5 of the coupon-book from which the coupons were extracted to pay said order, and the aggregate 13 of the amount of the bill.

As the bill of parcels and the column-record 12 on the liy-leaf 11 provides a check in behalf of the customer when Iil'ed'by him, so, also, the record on the stubs of the orderbook `and the canceled coupons provide a check on behalf of the merchant.

The merchant, if he desires, may instruct hisA book keeper to make itemized transcriptions of said filled orders in the day-book; but as the coupon-books have been already either Apaid for or charged, respectively, as

the practice may prevail between said merchant and his customers, the only requirement for said entry would be if the merchant requires an itemized account of the sales, as.

well as the customer, and even that he can obtain Without any book-entry by simply press-copying the bill of parcel-slips before filing the order and slip or other filing of said press-copies for future reference.

2d represents the file on which the used and canceled coupons are secured. The said file isV constituted of the platform-base 25, which is preferably of wood, but may be of any other suitable material, in which are inserted the vertical metal file-needles 26. The said base has recorded on it, respectively at the foot of each ,of the iile-needles; corresponding numbers 5 to those used on the coupon-books and coupons; aswell as on the order-book. (See Fig. VI.) The said coupons as they return in payment of orders are each canceled by the piercing of the file-needle that sui-mounts its respectiveV number, on which individual needle all the couponsV that carry said number and have consequently come from the corresponding book and customer are impaled, making individual bunches 27.

Vhen the coupons of one of the books have been exhausted, which is readily discovered by reckoning up the amount of the coupons on :[ile to that number, the completed bunch of coupons may be withdrawn from thelile, inclosed by an elastic cord 28, and the customers name and date of issue of the book may be, it' desired, transcribed on the upper canceled coupon, as shown in Fig. VI. The package can then be stored away if yit is desired to keep said canceled coupons for future reference.

While the coupons to the amount of the order may be handed to the order-clerk when said order is given, yet it is preferred that said coupons should not be paid in until the receipt by the customer of the goods accompanied with the bill-slip, so that the transfer to the customer on the one hand of the goods and the bill-slip that itemizes them and the transfer to the employ of the merchant on the other hand of the coupons that effect the payment shall be simultaneous, andthe whole transfer on both hands is thus brought together in a nutshell, both as to time and action. Now it will be seen that unlessit is preferred by the merchant to keep an itemized day-book, which in this system is not necessary, the work of the book-keeper is brought down to a minimum and the danger from multiplicity of tangled accounts is almost entirely avoided. This is still more effectually the case when the practice of the merchant is to sell and of the customer to buy the coupon-books for cashv only. It will also be seen that this combined order-book, coupon-book, and tile system provides a safe means of effecting trade and the payment of the obligations entailed thereby without either the danger of errors of detail in complicated IOC IIO

accounts or the loss of money by its frequent transmission; also, should a coupon-book be lost by the customer, even if it is full or partly full of coupons, it need entail no loss on the owner of the book, as said book is not transferable or the coupons good if detached. Thus if another person nds a lost couponbook and attempts to purchase goods with the coupons the merchant will see the real owners name on the cover of the book and also can see a record of the name of said customer as the accredited owner of the couponbook that carries said number, so that the coupon-book cannot be used by any but its rightful owner. If said lost coupon-book is not found, the merchant, by referring to his file and footing up the aggregate amount of the used and canceled coupons can extract the same amount of coupons from a new book and hand said book to the customer without loss to the customer or himself, other than the mere nominal cost ot' printing the book. Otherwise the merchant can charge the customer for the amount of the canceled coupons and hand him a full book.

When the merchant adopts the credit system for the disposal of his coupon-books, he can combine therewith a discount-cash system, selling said coupon-books at a certain discount below their face value for cash.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a combined order-book, tile, and coupon appliance, the combination of the perforate detachable bill-slips bearing itemized accounts and the stub-record thereof, of the order-book, the perforate detachable coupons, and the column-dated record of the couponbook, and the file 24, arranged for canceling and filing the used coupons, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a combined order-book, iile, and coupon appliance, the combination of the perforate detachable coupon-slips bearing a record of their denominational amount and the distinguishing-number of the owner of said coupons, the bill-slips 20, containing itemized records of orders, bound in an order-book, the stub-leaves of said book from which said itemized bill-slips are arranged to be severed, the said stubs carrying a record of the date of order, the distinguishing-number of the owner of the coupons, and the aggregate of the amount of the bill, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. Ina combined order-book, tile, and couypon-appliance, the combination of the coupon appliance, the combination of the couponbook which contains a certain amount of detachable coupons, marked with their denominations and the distinguishing-number of the owner of said book, the index-record 12 on the fly-leaf of said book, the order-book 17, containing the perforate bill-slips 18 and the registry-stubs, the tile 24, which contains the base 25, the needles that rise vertically from said base, the distinguishing-numbers at the ufoot of said needles on the base of said file, the lpackage of canceled coupons 27, and the elastic band that confines said coupons, the top coupon carrying the record of the users name and date of issue arranged for filing away for future record, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JAMES WV. HILL.

In presence of- BENJN. A. KNIGHT, SAML. KNIGHT. 

